Drinking Water Warning Issued by Citizens’ Water Service in Vance, Alabama

A drinking water warning has been issued by Citizen's Water Service in Vance, Alabama. A raw water sample from one of their wells has come back as contaminated with fecal indicators.

The Citizens' Water Service issued the following statement today (June 30th):

Fecal indicators were found in Citizens Water Service’s Griffin Well on June 15, 2015. However no coliform bacteria or fecal indicators were found in the samples collected from the system’s distribution system on that day.

Fecal indicators are microbes whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes. Microbes in these wastes can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms. They may pose a special health risk for infants, young children, and people with severely compromised immune systems.

The symptoms above are not caused only by organisms in drinking water. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice. People at increased risk should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. What happened? What is being done?

Bacterial contamination can occur when increased run-off enters the drinking water source (for example, following heavy rains). It can also happen due to a break in the distribution system (pipes) or a failure in the water treatment process.

We have resampled and the results came back negative for fecal indicators.

For more information, please contact Toby Kizziah at (205)556-2224 or P.O. Box 670, Vance, AL 35490. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1(800) 426-4791.